This verse has jumped out at me twice which has prompted me to give my views:-

Why would Jesus use a strong word such as “hate” in this passage when he tells us to love one another? When love is one of the strong foundation that has been established in the Bible by Christ himself for us to follow, as demonstrated in John 3:16.

What message is Jesus trying to convey in the above verse?  I think Jesus just wants us to understand the zeal with which we should pursue him. A zeal that forces us to forsake ourselves and others in order to serve him fully. I don’t think he wants us to literally hate anyone; but to understand that if it comes to the point of choosing then we will know where our priority lies. That priority is putting him above all else, putting him above everything.

The  verse also demonstrates Jesus’ life on earth. His friends (disciples among others), his mother and even himself would have wanted otherwise, to not have him face death but he had to put them(everyone) aside so that his purpose could be fulfilled.

When we make the decision to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, our faith and trust should be demonstrated through the verse. When we put him first above all else, we are saying  we trust him and we will have faith in him. We are telling him that it is his way and his way alone.

The word “hate” may sound harsh but it is not. It is Jesus’ way of getting us to a higher state; a state where we understand true surrender and the zeal with which we need to put him first.

Let us think about it this way, if we are putting Jesus first and living our lives in a way that patterns his life when he was on earth. We will be living in a way that enables us to be better people for ourselves and better people for others.